


Sheriff Hank and the Lassiter Kid

by beggar_always



Category: Psych
Genre: Episode Related, F/M, Family, M/M, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-03-14
Updated: 2011-03-14
Packaged: 2017-10-16 22:57:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/170289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beggar_always/pseuds/beggar_always
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Scenes from a pseudo-fatherhood.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sheriff Hank and the Lassiter Kid

**Author's Note:**

> I've been poking at this for months and I figure it's as done as it's gonna be. I have to say that I've yet to see the last two episodes of this past season (yeah, yeah - I suck), so I'm not quite sure what might've been revealed about Lassiter's family in "Dead Bear Walking." Just think of this as slightly-AU if it needs to be.

He was a quiet boy, a bit on the small side. Not that Hank knew a whole lot about the average rate of child development, but he’d done enough field trips with packs of second graders to know this kid was the runt of the litter.

Hank usually didn’t spend any special attention to the kids that came through. The ones he did pay extra notice to were the ones he thought most likely to break something. Little Carlton Lassiter stood out particularly because he was exactly the opposite. In an especially rambunctious group of boys, Carlton was the one who stuck to the back of the group, eyes wide as he quietly took everything in.

Pulling the kid aside while the rest of his class kept busy decorating construction paper cowboy hats, Hank handed him one of the season passes they usually only gave out to the sponsors.

“Yer welcome back in Old Sonora any time, ya hear?” he told Carlton. “You look like someone who could help me keep an eye on the townsfolk from time to time.”

Hank had never particularly wanted kids of his own. They were cute and all, but they’d always just seemed like more hassle than they were worth. That day, after watching little Carlton Lassiter’s face light up over a cheap piece of paper, Hank reevaluated his stance on having one of his own.

\-----------------------------

Hank bailed him out of county lock-up the morning after his eighteenth birthday. Binky... _Carlton_ (as he’d insisted on being called last time Hank had seen him)...wouldn’t meet his gaze as they walked out to his pick-up truck. Hank barely caught a glimpse of the black eye as they got in the cab.

“Your mama know where ya been?” Hank asked as he pulled out of the parking lot. Carlton’s focus was on the passing buildings.

“She went to Reno with George,” he said quietly. Hank frowned.

“I thought she was seeing that Steve guy?” Carlton gave a little shrug as he kept staring out the window. Hank sighed to himself and turned his attention out the window in front of him.

\-----------------------------

Hank was there the day Binky graduated from the police academy, sitting proudly in the front row with all the other parents. Hank had known the kid long enough he caught the flash of disappointment that crossed Carlton’s face when he realized his mother hadn’t bothered to show up.

\-----------------------------

Hank was far from an expert on women. About the only thing he knew for certain was that they never seemed to have the time of day for the likes of him.

Even though Hank didn’t know much about the womenfolk, he decided quickly that he didn’t care much for that Victoria gal Binky had been seeing. She’d only come out to Old Sonora once and she’d sneered at it all the whole time. Any woman good enough for his Binky would’ve seen how important the old town was to him and would’ve at least kept her mouth shut instead of listing all its faults.

Hank liked her even less when Carlton told him they were getting married.

\-----------------------------

Hank really hadn’t been sure Binky would come when he’d called. The whole Victoria business had been a bit of a black mark on their friendship. But Binky had come through for him and in the end it’d all worked out just fine.

Hank hadn’t thought there was anything left to learn about the younger man, but watching him over the past few days had given him a new view.

He caught up to Carlton as he was dismissing a pair of uniformed officers. “Hank, I...” Hank cut him off with a wave of his hand. He didn’t need more apologies. He did, however, need to give Binky a piece of his mind.

“Look, son,” Hank began as he slung his arm across Carlton’s shoulders. “I learned a long time ago not to judge a man by his heart’s desire. And that Spencer kid? Well, he’s got spunk, that’s for sure. But he’s a good man and he’s loyal as hell to you.” Hank caught sight of Miss Annie as she sauntered by. “Lord knows I’ve got my eye on a wild and wayward soul of my own. Men like us?” he looked to Binky to make sure the younger man was paying attention. “We need people like them; they keep us grounded.” Hank watched as Carlton’s gaze drifted off across the street. Knowing Shawn and that friend of his were still lounging around outside the sheriff’s office, Hank grinned to himself.

“Go get him, Binky,” Hank said with an encouraging slap on the back and a light shove forward.

\-----------------------------

Hank knew he was mostly to blame for the next two years of silence between them. He and Miss Annie had just gotten a bit caught up in seeing the world and it took awhile for them to decide on a place to settle down. They settled into their new house just a few days after Thanksgiving. Hank was surprised they had any mail at all just a few days later, but there it was, an enveloped addressed to “Sheriff and Mrs. Hank.”

It was one of those photo Christmas cards that Hank had always thought were slightly ridiculous. It took him a moment to realize he was staring down at a picture of Binky. He grabbed his reading glasses to examine the card more closely.

“Merry Christmas from Our Family to Yours,” was scrolled across one side of the card, two signatures beneath it. Hank grinned as he took it all in. It was obvious from the matching sweaters and the tight expression on Binky’s face that the photo hadn’t been his idea. But there was something of a twinkle in his eyes and Hank could make out the hand that rested low on the other man’s waist. Looked like Binky had taken his advice after all.

Arms wrapped around him from behind as Miss Annie peered around him to see the card. She smiled fondly.

“He really was the worst Sheriff ever,” she commented on seeing Shawn. Hank smiled and turned to wrap an arm of his own around her.

“S’long as Binky’s happy, I’m okay with that.”

/end


End file.
